SURPRISE, AZ — Some Wittmann residents are continuing their push to turn the unincorporated community into its own town, but getting there requires an unusual step: asking the City of Surprise to annex them.
The effort is being led by Keep Us Rural LLC, whose members say incorporation would give residents greater control over development and help preserve Wittmann's rural character.
“We want a voice, we want to be able to tell the developers no big developments, no commercial warehouses,” said Jeffrey August, president of Keep Us Rural.
Despite the annexation request, organizers say their goal is not to become part of Surprise.
The strategy stems from Arizona law and Wittmann's proximity to Surprise. Because the proposed community sits within six miles of an existing municipality, organizers cannot simply move forward with incorporation on their own.
Instead, supporters are using the annexation process as a potential path toward incorporation.
If Surprise does not approve the annexation request within 120 days, organizers say they can then take their incorporation effort to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
“We gave them the ultimatum: it’s either let us incorporate or annex us,” August said. “We know the annexation will fail.”
Surprise officials have said the city is not proactively seeking to annex the area.
Councilman Chris Judd said city leaders understand residents' desire to preserve Wittmann's rural identity.
“I think we’re all in agreement up here that we want Wittmann to stay rural,” Judd said. “It’s a beautiful area, it’s a beautiful country, it’s got great people out there.”
However, city staff have raised several concerns about the incorporation proposal.
Among them is whether the proposed town would be financially sustainable. City officials have questioned organizers' salary estimates and their plans to initially rely heavily on state-shared revenue to fund municipal operations.
Surprise staff have also raised concerns about Wittmann's proposed 31.5-square-mile boundary, saying the configuration appears to create several county islands.
There is another complication for Surprise: Wittmann sits in an area that could play a significant role in the city's future expansion.
Surprise City Manager Andrea Davis said incorporating the community could affect long-term planning, including transportation and developments that have already received approvals.
“It really does impact how we can strategically grow, how we deal with the roadways going through, you mentioned there is the master plans we have approved,” Davis said.
For incorporation supporters, those concerns have not changed their plans.
August said residents have already volunteered to help operate a future municipal government while the proposed town waits for revenue to begin coming in.
“We’re not going to fail,” August said. “I’ve already got a lot of people who have volunteered to work the positions in our government until we get the money from the state.”
The proposal still faces several hurdles before Wittmann could become an incorporated town. But organizers say the annexation request should not be mistaken for a change in their ultimate goal.
They don't want Wittmann to become part of Surprise. They are using the annexation process as a legal step they believe could help Wittmann become a town of its own.
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